Christmas Present
by etmuse
Summary: Christmas time in Cardiff with Jack, Ianto and Lisa. And Lisa has presents. Set a few years after the end of 'Guilt: Redux'


Ianto held it up. "This is why you've been skipping out on movie and dinner nights three times out of four for the last two and a half months, isn't it?" he asked.

Lisa shrugged a shoulder. "They took a while."

"You shouldn't have," Ianto said, shaking his head fondly. "Really, you _shouldn't_ have."

Jack was frowning down at the bundle in his arms in confusion. "I didn't even know you could knit," he told Lisa.

"I found a website with instructions," Lisa said. "Taught myself especially so I could make these for you two." She smiled.

Ianto bit his lip to stop himself from pointing out that it really showed.

And really, they weren't _all_ that bad. Yes, one sleeve of his jumper was about two inches longer than the other. And there were several spots where the stitches abruptly loosened or tightened giving a slightly squint patterned appearance.

And yes, the patterns would have been fairly shudder-worthy even if the execution had been flawless, but… oh, who was he kidding? They were horrendous.

But he cocked his head and considered his jumper more carefully. Yes, it was terrible, but for that exact reason, he found himself sort of loving it.

He'd never known either of his grandmothers, and he hadn't had any other relatives who were inclined to gift he and Rhiannon with terrible items of Christmas-themed clothing. Finally he had been given this opportunity to be part of that tradition.

It touched him that Lisa had thought to do this for he and Jack, even if it had originated – as he suspected – with the intention of teasing them.

He doubted it was a tradition Jack had a lot of experience with either. It was a distinctly familiar Christmas custom, and all of Jack's natural family were thousands of years away.

But that didn't mean he had no family – not any more. They might not be the most conventional of families, but they were one.

"How long did you search for these particular patterns?" he asked, watching the grin on Lisa's face widen.

"About two weeks," she replied. "I wanted to find the most eye-watering ones possible, but I did have to limit myself to the ones marked as easy. There were some truly awful ones out there."

Ianto nodded.

"So go on," Lisa continued. "Put them on."

"Are you serious?" Jack cried out.

Lisa raised an eyebrow in Jack's direction. "When have you ever known me not to be serious?"

Jack turned his head to look at Ianto. They shared a smile and an incredulous look. As one, they turned back to face Lisa.

"Okay," she capitulated under the face of their combined stares. "When have you ever known me not to be serious when it involves making one or both of you look a bit daft?"

Ianto shrugged and noticed Jack doing the same. She did have a point with that one.

Lisa looked between them sternly. "Come on then, what are you waiting for?"

Ianto and Jack looked sidelong at each other and dutifully shook out the jumpers, looking at them uncertainly before opening them out and tugging them on.

Ianto was surprised – his actually fit him fairly well around the chest, although the neck was a bit loose, and as he'd noticed before, the sleeves were different lengths and neither of them were the right length for his arms.

As he rolled his shoulders in attempt to settle it properly, he looked over at Jack. And couldn't restrain the entirely unmanly giggle that bubbled up in his throat. The jumper was far too tight, and the bottom of it rode up around Jack's midriff every time he moved.

Jack glared at him, but there was no heat in it. "How come Ianto's fits better than mine?" he complained.

"Well, Ianto hasn't really changed much in the last few years since we lived together," Lisa explained. "I just had to guess at your size."

Jack picked at the bottom of the jumper. "Couldn't you have just asked?"

"And ruin the surprise?" Lisa sounded mildly scandalised.

Jack started to fidget and reached to pull it off again.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Lisa said sternly.

Jack froze. "Um... taking it off?"

"Don't even think about it," Lisa told him. "I spent a lot of time on those, you're wearing them at least until this evening."

Ianto looked down at his watch. 11am. At least his was something resembling comfortable.

* * *

"I'll see you soon, then," Ianto said as he hugged his sister goodbye late that afternoon. She was driving back to Bristol to spend Christmas evening with friends, but it had been nice to have her over for lunch – after so long when they really hadn't been in contact at all, it gave him a warm feeling inside to be able to spend time together now.

"Absolutely," she replied. "I'll be over sometime in late January probably. By which time Lisa will probably have let you out of that horrendous jumper." She grinned.

Ianto looked down again at the lurid pattern across his chest. "It is pretty terrible, isn't it?" he smiled. "And I'm guessing mid-February."

"If you're lucky," Rhiannon chuckled, squeezing him once more. "Right, I better be off, before it gets dark and the roads get icier."

"Call me if you need anything," Ianto reminded her as she pulled away and stepped to open his front door. "I mean it." He might have had a bit of a gap in the middle, but his big brother protective instincts had returned with full force almost the moment they'd been reunited just over two years before.

"I know, I know," she said good-naturedly, checking the zip on her coat and letting him open the door for her. "I'll see you next month."

* * *

Rhiannon had barely been gone forty minutes – just time for Ianto, Jack and Lisa to get all the dishes cleared away into the kitchen sink – when there was another knock on the door.

Ianto glanced down at his watch and realised that it was in fact that time. He opened the door to find Gwen's old police partner Andy standing on the doorstep, a bottle in his gloved hands. Although they (well, just Jack, if Ianto was to be honest) had initially seen Andy as little better than an annoyance, he had slowly been becoming more and more part of the team, especially in the last year since the tragic loss of Suzie during what had nearly been a major invasion.

Andy appeared to do a bit of a double-take when Ianto answered the door. "Okay," he guffawed, "I knew she had taken up knitting, and I knew she was planning on making you something, but…" He trailed off into laughter.

His gaze shifted over Ianto's shoulder and Ianto twisted to see Lisa approaching.

"Hey, Andy," she said, brushing past Ianto to press a brief but warm kiss to Andy's lips. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," he echoed, smiling at her affectionately.

Ianto blinked and looked between the pair of them. This development was either very new, or had been very well hidden until now. He opened his mouth to say something, but wasn't quite sure what to say.

Andy looked back up at him and must have noticed his surprised look. "I thought you told him," he said to Lisa in a very loud whisper.

Lisa turned back and bit her lip. "I thought I did too…" she frowned. "Huh, guess I forgot," she shrugged.

Ianto closed the door behind Andy and walked behind them back to the living room. "How long has this been going on, then?" he asked.

"How long has what been going on?" Jack interrupted from the sofa.

Ianto gestured to Lisa and Andy. "These two."

"You mean those two as in _those two_?"

Ianto nodded.

"Oh for Christsake," Lisa said. "We've been together for just over two months, okay? And I did think I told you already."

Ianto eyed her sharply. "And you're happy?" He widened his gaze to encompass Andy too. "Both of you?"

They nodded in unison.

"All right then," Ianto said, smiling again.

"You really outdid yourself on those jumpers," Andy told Lisa, laughing as he noticed Jack fidgeting in his.

"You think so?" Lisa beamed.

Andy nodded. "Possibly the worst Christmas jumpers I've ever seen."

Lisa grinned. "Well, I did try."

* * *

"I still can't believe you've kept those bloody jumpers on all night," Owen said as he, Tosh, Gwen and Rhys were leaving.

"You're better men than me, that's for sure," Rhys added.

Ianto raised an eyebrow. "Would you really go against Lisa?"

Both men shuddered and shook their heads. "See you in the morning, Ianto," Gwen said as the door closed behind them.

Lisa and Andy were standing up and putting on their coats as Ianto returned to the living room.

"We'd better be off too, I think," Lisa said, taking Andy's hand.

"You sure?"

Lisa and Andy shared a look. "We're sure," Lisa responded.

Ianto saw the squeeze of hands and nodded. "Okay then." He grinned at Lisa. "We'll be over tomorrow with leftovers, so make sure you're decent."

Lisa shrugged a shoulder. "We'll try, but I'm making no promises."

Ianto closed the door behind them and turned back to Jack, who was right behind him.

"Right," he said quietly stepping up close. "I think it's time we got these awful jumpers off, don't you?"

Jack smiled and wrapped his arms around Ianto. "I think the jumpers are only the start."


End file.
